Beam: Time for postal service to end Saturday deliveries

The decision of the U.S. Postal Service to end Saturday mail deliveries by Aug. 1 isn’t being well-received in some quarters,
but 7 in 10 Americans think it’s a great idea. Supporters are relieved to know that is one less day they will have to cope
with mail boxes filled mostly with continuous appeals from charities, business solicitations and pure junk mail.

Fredric Rolando, president of the
National Association of Letter Carriers, speaks for the opposition. He
said ending Saturday
mail delivery would hurt small businesses, rural communities, the
elderly and the disabled. Rolando blames what he calls unnecessary
retirement benefit payments for the service’s $15.9 billion in
losses last year.

Congress in 2006 required the Postal Service to set aside $55 billion in an account to cover future medical costs for retirees.
That meant annual payments of $5.5 billion for 10 years. The Associated Press said no other government agency is required
to make such payments. The Postal Service has defaulted on two of those payments, and that is why its losses were so high
last year.

In addition to the payments it couldn’t
make, the Postal Service still sustained an operating loss of $2.4
billion. And ending
Saturday mail delivery would save $2 billion annually. There is no
way to justify not doing something about annual losses
that are expected to keep growing from year to year. The New York
Times said Postal Service losses total $36 million per day,
and they are expected to climb to about $21 billion a year by
2016.

With that prospect and last year’s $15.9 billion loss, how can you ignore any decision aimed at cutting costs?

The Associated Press reports the Postal
Service since 2006 has cut annual costs by about $15 billion, reduced
the size of
its workforce by 193,000 (28 percent) and consolidated more than
200 mail processing locations. Drastic as that was, it hasn’t
been enough to curb the losses, and more needs to be done.

The big unanswered question is how
members of Congress will react to the end of Saturday deliveries. They
have resisted past
efforts to control rising costs, even though the service doesn’t
receive government funding. However, Congress oversees the
independent agency and for the last 30 years has insisted Saturday
mail delivery continue.

Two congressmen who are linked to
postal operations did indicate Wednesday they believe it is
“common-sense reform,” according
to USA Today. U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is chairman of the
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. U.S. Sen.
Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is the ranking member of the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The two sent
a letter to leaders of both chambers of Congress supporting the
plan to end Saturday deliveries, the newspaper said.

U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of
Maryland, the top Democrat on Issa’s committee, had a slightly different
take on the issue.
He said something has to be done about the financial status of the
postal system, but Congress needs to be a partner in the
concept.

“The Postal Service’s declining mail
volume poses a significant challenge, and the enactment of comprehensive
reform legislation
must be an urgent priority for the current Congress,” Cummings
said in a statement. “However, the issue of service delivery
frequency should be addressed in that legislation rather than
through arbitrary action by the Postal Service.”

Unfortunately, Congress has been the
main hindrance to postal reform. As you would expect, its members look
at the issue from
a political perspective. Closing post offices and reducing
deliveries doesn’t go over well back in their communities. Congress
also has a reputation for putting off permanent solutions to most
serious financial problems.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said of the plan, “The Postal Service has a responsibility to take the steps necessary
to return to long-term financial stability and ensure the continued affordability of the U.S. Mail.”

Donahue said the service wants to
concentrate on its strong package delivery system. That business has
increased by 14 percent
since 2010, while letter delivery has declined. He adds that mail
would still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays
and post offices would remain open on Saturdays.

Congress has tried to manage postal
affairs, but the financial situation has gotten worse during its watch.
Politicians need
to give up their supervision of the Postal Service and let the
agency have greater flexibility to control its own costs and
create new ways to increase its revenues. There are too many in
Washington, D.C., who refuse to adapt to today’s realities
of American business life, and they are destined for failure.

E-mail, smart phones, iPads and other modern technology has changed many aspects of our lives, nowhere more so than in the
postal service. Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan said it best as far back as 1964 with his third album titled, “The Times They
Are a-Changin’.”